The Winter NAMM Show, held in January each year, always marks a refreshing start to the New Year. While new products are the economic drivers of the musical instrument and professional audio markets, rarely to these products contain the potential to change an entire industry.

All that may change with the opening of the Winter NAMM show 2011.

For professionals in the sound reinforcement market, especially those in churches, Avedis Zildjian's announcement of their new AE (Acoustic Electric) Cymbal could rank up there with the introduction of the digital mixing console and the combination of in-ear monitors and personal monitor mixers.

Gen16, a new division of legendary cymbal manufacturer Avedis Zildjian Company is introducing what it calls "essentially a completely new instrument." Unlike most existing electronic percussion systems, the AE Cymbal is not a sample trigger device says the company press release. Instead, it's an actual cymbal, and plays like one, but at reduced volume levels, utilizing a unique dual microphone and DSP engine to amplify and model the cymbal's output.

"The Acoustic Electric Cymbal is capable of creating a wide range of sounds, from that of a classic Zildjian cymbal to some very non-traditional sounds," explains Zildjian's VP of new business and product development, John Roderick. "For drummers, it will have an inspirational impact akin to what the acoustic electric guitar has done for guitarists."

"One of the most important things for us in creating the AE Cymbal was that it had to feel and play like a real cymbal," says Paul Francis, Zildjian's director of R&D. "Most of what's currently available for drummers are rubberized, cymbal-shaped trigger pads, and they typically lack the feel and responsiveness of a real cymbal. For us at Zildjian, we've always been about the real feel."

Francis continues saying, the original concept for a low-volume acoustic cymbal was proposed by Korg. "They came up with the basic perforation pattern and approached us to perfect the design. We did extensive testing to create a perforation pattern that would maintain the integrity of an actual cymbal. We also worked to develop the right alloy formula that could deliver the feel, sound and durability we needed, and could be manufactured in a wide range of sizes and shapes."

While this announcement sounds good on paper, we'll be curious to hear not only how they sound, but how they are received by real drummers.